How on earth did I end up here? (a quick pictorial update)

... was my question to myself at 5:30 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, as I drove to Gemas from the only city I've known, Petaling Jaya. Here's a quick update of the last few months:

My awesome students from class "A4"

Teachers' training (in Nov and Dec) came by in a flash. We sat in lectures, cracked our heads for the best lesson plans, learnt and practiced best teaching techniques and practices, brainstormed activities - and taught students in what we called "Kem SKORlah", a holiday-school programme.
My proudest moment was when we got them to participate in an actual debate with another class - a feat they would have otherwise shrugged off for being "too difficult" (and they won!). I learnt - with them - that a sense of possibility is very contagious. We, the teachers and their leaders, need to believe in them first, and soon, they would too.

Cards by the students. "I will continue working hard after this...Work Hard, Get Smart!"

Gemencheh, one town before Gemas

My favourite part of the journey

Gemas, the town where my placement school is located at, has a lovely old-town feel. Everything can be found or reached within 5 minutes, and at night people run from shade to shade for safety because hordes of birds descend upon the town (and so do their lunches and dinners!). Dusty electrical shops decorate the roads, and a giant picture of the Nokia 3310 hangs from one of the shop's walls. I love it.

Gemas town

Uncle, can give discount?

Outside our weekday' home

Wai Khong and Yin Yee, my Teach For Malaysia colleagues who are teaching in the same school with me have built a home out of this house... our home for the next 2 years.

Before...

After (---much scrubbing)

Tomorrow marks the second week of school (and work). As Teach For Malaysia fellows, we have been allotted the last few classes to teach, and along with this privilege comes the challenge of engaging our students and keeping them interested. It's what we signed up for, but many of us are starting to feel the daily grind of a teacher's day-to-day routine: the bureaucracy, lethargy and challenges that come in all shapes and forms. Yet, at the end of this week, the question bounced back to me, "How could we NOT teach - when we see what we see?"

I'm reminded of how I ended up here.